The Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act, which is backed by 16 Republican senators, would require Department of Veterans Affairs leaders to meet with lawmakers for the next three years to provide regular updates on the agency’s finances. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Sixteen GOP senators urged swift passage of a bill to require quarterly budget briefings from the Department of Veterans Affairs after the agency secured emergency funds from Congress for incorrectly claiming a multibillion-dollar shortfall threatened veterans benefits.
Accusing the VA of “gross mismanagement,” the senators wrote in a letter this week to Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, that they won’t support expansion of veterans’ services without the additional oversight.
The Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act — sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska — would require VA leaders to meet with lawmakers for the next three years to provide regular updates on the agency’s finances. The legislation also would withhold bonuses to senior VA leaders when financial shortfalls do exist.
“It is essential that we hear directly from the department’s leadership and receive immediate and honest answers,” the senators wrote in the letter.
The letter sent Nov. 18 was signed by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Sullivan said the senators are pushing for the bill or a similar budget accountability measure to be included in any end-of-year veterans legislation that comes before the Senate. The legislation was referred to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in September but has not been scheduled for a hearing.
In the letter, the senators castigated the VA for telling Congress that the agency would close fiscal 2024 with a $3 billion shortfall unless it received a last-minute appropriation.
Disability compensation and pensions for veterans would be delayed in October without emergency funds to cover the shortfall, the VA said. The VA also projected a $12 billion spending gap looming for fiscal 2025, which started Oct. 1.
The senators wrote the warning caused “significant and justified concern from veterans,” many of whom rely on the monthly compensation to cover their basic expenses.
Congress provided the additional appropriation only to learn later that the agency had a surplus.
“In fact, the VA ended fiscal year 2024 with a $5.1 billion surplus. Whether by negligence or deceit, this is a stunning about-face that demands our attention,” the senators wrote.
The VA also retracted its projection for a budget shortfall in fiscal 2025.
Sullivan said he had tried to include the legislation in the emergency VA spending bill that lawmakers passed in mid-September.
“I’m really disappointed that we can’t make basic, simple accountability reforms,” he said.
